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It didn’t take long for the madness to unfold at the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.

From the jump, the “second round” was full of unexpected thrills and it continued with a record five one-point outcomes in a single day.

Heading into 2015, No. 3 seeds had a combined 102-18 (.850) record against No. 14 seeds.

But history — whether you are talking about what individual teams did this regular season, or what has gone on in the bigger picture in past years — gets thrown out the window at this time of year.

Anything can happen at the tourney and, on this day, that quickly became readily apparent.

Well before sunset, No. 3 Iowa State had fallen to the unheralded University of Alabama at Birmingham 60-59 in a heart-breaker, No. 14 Georgia State stunned third-seeded Baylor 57-56, and a third No. 3 seed, Notre Dame, barely survived, taking advantage of a late turnover to pull out an eventual 69-65 win against No. 14 Northeastern.

While a No. 3 has fallen to a No. 14 in each of the past three tournaments, it was only the third time that a pair of 14 seeds advanced to the round of 32 (1995 and 1986).

The Georgia State win produced a lasting memory when R.J. Hunter’s three-pointer with just 2.7 seconds remaining put the capper on a 13-0 run. Hunter’s father, head coach Ron Hunter, spilled out of his chair, delirious, on the sidelines. He was only sitting on the chair because he had blown out his Achilles tendon last week celebrating the win that got the Panthers to the tournament in the first place.

The younger Hunter, considered a potential first-round NBA pick, had scored only four points until dropping 12 of Georgia State’s final 13 on perfect shooting. Baylor did not score in the final 2:54.

Point guard Kenny Chery, of Montreal, missed a crucial free throw with 15 seconds remaining, which allowed Hunter’s deep three to win the game, instead of forcing overtime.

Another Canadian, Toronto’s Naz Long, struggled in Iowa State’s surprising defeat, shooting just 2-for- 9 — all on three-point attempts, after shooting 40% from deep the past two seasons.

“We got lackadaisical,” Long said afterward. “We have no one to blame but ourselves. This one burns, man. It burns.”

That’s because Iowa State, a team that had taken great care of the ball all season, averaging only 11 turnovers a game, committed nine in the first half alone, which allowed UAB to gain confidence and rally from a large deficit to take a lead into the half.

The 20-15 Blazers were the youngest team in the tournament and earned the school’s first win since 2005. After Iowa State took a 57-56 lead with 41 seconds remaining, William Lee scored four straight points, Long missed a three that would have tied the game, Monte Morris tipped in the rebound, but the Cyclones ran out of time.

UAB out-rebounded the Cyclones on the offensive glass 19-9.

In the other early 3 vs. 14 matchup, Notre Dame barely escaped more March disappointment by forcing a late turnover and getting two clutch free throws from Zach Auguste, who scored 25 points.

Northeastern didn’t have a timeout down the stretch and that likely contributed to the key mistake, allowing the Fighting Irish to fight on. Notre Dame has reached the Sweet 16 just once since 2001 and has dropped some tough ones along the way.

But 3-for-17 outside shooting from Northeastern and a 17-0 edge off turnovers and dominance in the paint powered Notre Dame.

CRUISE CONTROL

No. 2 Arizona had no problems dispatching No. 15 Texas Southern in Portland, running out to a 54-33 halftime lead in an eventual 93-72 win.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 23 points and 10 rebounds, but Arizona was not happy with its defence, despite the easy victory. Senior guard T.J. McConnell said it was the team’s worst defensive performance of the year.

The Buckeyes fought back from a 12-point deficit early and the two teams were neck-and-neck for the entire second half and overtime in one of the closest games so far.

Russell took an elbow to the head that drew blood, but only got better as the game went on, helping Ohio State improve to 49-25 under Thad Matta. But the reward is a meeting with Arizona.

UCLA 60, SMU 59

A shooting explosion from Bryce Alford and a questionable goaltending call sunk Larry Brown and the Mustangs.

Alford hit four treys in the final four minutes, the last with a goaltending call with 13 seconds remaining, and nine threes in all as the No. 11 seed upset the No. 6.

The last play was not reviewable and two desperation shots at the other end did not fall.

Brown’s team just missed the tournament last season and fell agonizingly short against a school he coached to the NCAA title game years ago. It was the long-time NBA coach’s first tourney appearance since winning it all with Kansas in 1988.

BUTLER 56, TEXAS 48

The Bulldogs got through thanks to a big three-pointer from Kellen Dunham with 1:18 left in another nail-biter.

The six seeds needed the whole game to put away the No. 11-seeded Longhorns, who dropped to 20-21 at the tournament under Rick Barnes. Texas shot just 34% from the field and has lost in its first game seven straight years.

CINCINNATI 66, PURDUE 65

The eighth-seeded Bearcats rallied from a seven-point deficit with under a minute remaining in regulation to force OT on a Troy Caupain layup that beat the buzzer and withstood a video review, before seeing a Boilermakers three-point attempt rim out at the overtime buzzer.

The reward? Likely a date with Kentucky.

UTAH 57, SF AUSTIN 50

No. 12 Stephen F. Austin played No. 5 Utah even in the second half, but a 26-19 first-half advantage proved the difference.

Later, No. 4 North Carolina nearly gave up a 16-point lead over Harvard, but some good defence down the stretch and a missed Harvard three at the buzzer allowed the Tar Heels to pull out the win and save many brackets.

NC STATE 66, LSU 65

LSU missed its last 12 field goals, allowing the Wolfpack to make one of the biggest rallies of the day. The Tigers led 40-26 at the half, but North Carolina turned the tables, outscoring the No. 9 seeds 40-25, including 6-0 inside of the final four minutes of the game.

Alandise Harris hit a jumper, was fouled and hit the free throw with 1:40 remaining and No. 12 Wofford was held off the board from there. Michael Qualls had 20 points on 8-for-9 shooting, the other Razorbacks shot just 14-for-39, but Wofford shot just 31.6%.

“This is far from a program where student-athletes freely committed academic fraud. I believe the penalty is unduly harsh,” Boeheim said, adding he would appeal.

Boeheim has coached the Orange since 1976 and admitted he could move up his retirement, which the school had said this week would come in three years.

“If I’m not effective at the end of next year, I won’t coach after next year. The three-year thing is the outside,” he said.

AROUND THE RIM

Georgia State was making its first appearance since 2001 (an upset win over No. 6 Wisconsin) and third all-time ... Only 5.1% of ESPN brackets had Iowa State losing to UAB and 16.3% of all brackets had the Cyclones making the Final Four. Iowa State became just the sixth team to have lost games in the Round of 64 as both a 2 and 3 seed and UAB’s 34.8% shooting was the worst ever for a 14 or 15 seed topping a 2 or 3.